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( First posted in Portuguese, in March 2011, when J. was 5 years old) For my niece, Jessica Long ago when animals used to sp...

Sunday, 12 July 2015

A River Adventure

Mum
always liked to listen to the radio while they were having their
breakfast. 'One
of the thieves, who has been robbing jewellery shops in the Barcelona
area has been arrested and is awaiting trial under preventive
custody. Kirsten Hoffman was caught red-handed while trying to
fence one of the valuable diamonds from their first heist two weeks
ago. The public defender has announced that it should be a
cut-and-dried conviction as they also have the defendant caught in
the act on one of the jewellers' CCTV...'

'Well,
there you go,' said Mum. 'Crime never pays.'

'Have they found the rest of the diamonds yet, Mum?' asked Mariona,
the elder of two children.

'I don't think so, hon. According to the 9 o'clock news last night
the police are still looking for their loot along with a second
accomplice.'

'And what will they do when they find the rest of the stuff?'
inquired Mariona, feeling oddly curious about the case. She was
thirteen and lately she felt there was not enough common ground or
shared interests to be able to hold a conversation with her mum.

'I suppose everything will be returned to their rightful owners.
The jewellers have lost a lot of money and I'm sure the insurance
companies are also doing their bit to recover the jewels, diamonds
and gold. It's in their best interest after all...They'll make a
huge loss if they end up having to cover all those insurance
policies.

'And what will happen if it's not the police or the insurance
companies who find the treasure?' asked Sergi, suddenly also feeling
very interested in the conversation.

Mum and Mariona looked at each other and burst out laughing.

'Oh, Sergi,' said mum trying to be serious. 'That person or people
might get a handsome reward. Who knows?'

'And why do you care,' asked Mariona rolling her eyes as she always
did when her brother butted in on their conversations. 'Are you
planning to look for the treasure yourself?' she added ironically.

Sergi chose to ignore his sister and doubled his concentration on
the bowl of cheerios in front of him. He decided then that he would
speak to his friend, Gerard, instead. Gerard would understand his
excitement about the wonderful treasure hidden in or somewhere very
near Barcelona. He would tell him that same day after they put up
the tent in his room.

n

'The
tent looks great. Thanks Gerard. I couldn't have done it without
you.' said Sergi, still in awe at what they had managed to do.

'It
was nothing really. I'm used to helping my dad pitch the tent when
we go camping. And, yes, it does look fab. All things considered,
it turned out better than I thought it would.'

'Have
you heard about the stolen jewellery, diamonds and such?' asked
Sergi.

'Do
you mean the robberies in Barcelona?' replied Gerard. 'Yeah, they
don't seem to talk about anything else now on TV.'

'Or
the radio.'

'What
about it then?'

'Nothing
much. I think it's kind of exciting to know that the robbers have
hidden the stuff somewhere in Barcelona, or in the surroundings
of...'

'Do
you think they could have stashed it in Sabadell?' asked Gerard,
with a thrill of excitement in his voice.

'I
don't know. But if they say the treasure could be anywhere in
Cataluña, why not in Sabadell?

'So
what are you saying? Do you know where it is?'

'Of
course not. How would I know that, Gerard? All I say is that it's
nice to believe that it is somewhere close. Why don't we make
ourselves some pirate hats and pretend we're pirates looking for a
treasure?'

'Cool!
Let's find some newspaper to make the hats then.' Gerard could feel
his heart race with excitement. No wonder he loved coming round to
Sergi's – there was never a dull moment around him.

n

'...and
the way he shakes his hair back is so cute...No, do you really think
he likes me?' Mariona was on the phone with her best friend when
Sergi and Gerard came into her bedroom with part of a newspaper in
their hands.

'Get out! Get out of my room! How many times have I told you my
room is off limits to you? Moooooooooom!'

'Sorry, Mireia. I'll have to get back to you...It's the same old
story – my brother just doesn't know what boundaries are.'

'I'm sorry, but...'

'But nothing. You know I don't want you in my room – ever!'

'All right. But now that I'm here, can you help me make a pirate
hat?'

'Okay, I'll show you how to do it just one more time and then you
must never...'

'Yes, okay, I'll knock next time.'

'There won't be a next time. Do you hear me?...There – it's done.
See how easy it is?' said Mariona once she had finished making the
second hat.

'Great! Thank you Mariona.' said Sergi, with a big smile on his
face.

'Yes, thank you so much,' echoed Gerard.

'Hold on!' said Mariona. 'What's this?'

On one of the leftover sheets she saw a poem. Poetry was not really
her thing and some other day it would have gone unnoticed, but
something about the name caught her attention and compelled her to
read the poem from the small ads section.

In
the strong brown god

Lies
the key to my release.

Find
the shiny pebbles –

Prized
gifts to share with the

Black
robed man.

If
not, dear Quixote,

Behind
this cold sullen cage

Without
you will I fade.

Find the shiniest
stone

Within
the god that has:

A
bank that does not store money,

A
bed but never sleeps,

A
mouth but never eats,

A
head but never weeps.

My dear Don
Quixote –

Ask
the brown, murky god

to
return the freedom

rocks
that it hides within

your
Dulcineia

'What does it mean?' asked Sergi

'I don't know. It's so cryptic. Why would anyone sign off as
Dulcineia. And who is this Don Quixote person?'

'Do you think it has anything to do with the jewellery thieves?'
asked Gerard.

'Why do you ask?' Mariona wanted to brush the question off as silly
but something inside her told her that the idea might not be that
far-fetched.

'...and
there's also the shiniest
stone...all these things
could refer to diamonds, couldn't they?' added Sergi.

'I
guess so. But what on earth is the 'strong
brown god'?
And why would someone pay to have this poem published in the
newspaper?

'I
know,' said Sergi with enthusiasm. 'Perhaps the woman who's in
prison – Dulcineia
– is trying to contact her partner, DonQuixote!'

'Yes,
yes, yes! That must be it, Sergi,' Gerard jumped up and down
as he said this. 'Your mum is a teacher, isn't she?' Gerard said, heading towards the door, 'Let's ask her what she
thinks the 'strong
brown god'
is.'

The two boys and the young teen rushed out of the room to go and
find Mum. Mariona no longer remembered she was upset with her
brother for barging in on her room uninvited.

n

Mum was in the living room with Gerard's father and little sister,
Martina.

'Mum, look what we found in the newspaper,' shouted Sergi and
Mariona at the same time.
'Please, children, there's no need to
shout. We're right here.'

'We think the jewellery thief is trying to communicate with her
accomplice,' blurted out Gerard.

'What on earth are you talking about?' asked Mum and Gerard's dad
simultameously, which made them all giggle.

Five
minutes later the children had shared their suspicions and mum was
browsing through her books on the bookshelf. The words 'strong
brown god' rang
a bell. She was certain she had read them somewhere before.

'Here
it is, guys! I've found it. 'Strong
brown god'is
what T S Eliot calls the river in
“Four
Quartets,” The Dry Salvages .
Listen: I do not
know much about gods; but I think that the river / Is a strong brown
god—sullen, untamed and intractable.'

Sergi felt very proud of his mum. She was so intelligent.

'Okay. Let's have a look at the rest of the poem.' proceeded
Nerea, the teacher.

A
bank that does not store money,

A
bed but never sleeps,

A
mouth but never eats,

A head but never weeps.

'A river has banks, doesn't it? The right bank and the left bank.'
said Gerard.

'It also had a mouth – the river mouth is where the river flows
into another body of water, like a lake or an ocean.' added Mariona, realising that what she had studied in geography was not as useless
as she had thought.

'And then there's the river head, which is where the river begins,'
chipped in Gerard's father, Jordi, gently stroking little Martina's
head.

'That's
it. If this is indeed a secret message from the woman who's
currently in prison to her accomplice, she must be telling him where
to find their loot: Go!
Find the shiniest stone / Within the god.
She
was probably the one in charge of hiding it.' Mum said pensively.

'At the bottom of a river!' cried out Sergi and Gerard together.

'That's
right. But if Don Quixote is her partner, who is the 'Black
robed man'?
Asked Mariona, once again catching everyone's attention.

'That's
a good question,' said Jordi.
'Find the shiny pebbles – / Prized
gifts to share with the / Black
robed man...Do
you think it might be to pay for her defense?'

'You mean, like a lawyer?' asked Nerea. 'You know,
that must be it. Goodness, never in my life did I think I'd be
involved in solving a crime. What do you think we should do now,
Jordi?'

'Let me go down to the police station and speak to the
chief.'

'Please can we go with you? Please, take Sergi and me
with you! Please, please, please dad!' pleaded Gerard.

'I'm afraid not, children. This is serious business
and if we all go there and start telling our story the police
officers might not believe us. Tell you what, why don't you all
prepare a picnic basket and when I come back we can all go and have a
picnic by the Ripoll river? I have to go check on my crane, which is
on a construction site nearby anyway. What do you say?'

'Yes!' they all said in unison.

'Perhaps we'll find the treasure there,' said Martina,
speaking for the first time and surprising everyone.

'Ha, ha!' laughed Jordi. 'Well, I don't think that'll
happen! That would be too much of a coincidence, wouldn't it? Nah!
Nobody would hide anything in this river.'

n

'Well, guys, here we are. Let's see what you've
prepared for our picnic.' It had been a very eventful and exciting
morning and Jordi was starving.

'What did the police chief say?' asked Nerea, unable
to hold back her curiosity any longer.

'As I had expected he wasn't too receptive at first,
but he came round to the idea when I showed him the newspaper
clipping and told him what we had discovered. He said he was going
to look into it.'

The
two families enjoyed their sandwiches and fruit in
joyful chatter. After
lunch, the two boys, wearing their pirate hats, said they were going
exploring. Mariona began playing with Martina and Nerea and Jordi
lay on the picnic blanket talking about how fortunate they were that
their children seemed to have hit it off so well. They were both
divorced and until then they had not been very fortunate in their
post-divorce relationships. What is more, they felt they could only
be happy if their children were fine with the new situation. They
seemed to be and that made the couple very happy. They still lived
in their own separate flats but with things going so well they
thought it might be the right moment to go on a short holiday
together, both families together. From there they would see where
life would take them. The important thing was to take it one day at
the time and enjoy the moments of bliss – such as this one – that
came their way.

'Daaaad!' cried Gerard.

'Mum!' yelled Sergi.

The peaceful silence of the afternoon was broken by the boys'
shouts.

'Calm down, boys.' said mum. 'Don't try to speak at the same
time.'

'There's a man in a wet suit diving in the river over there.' said
Gerard without taking a pause to breathe.

'It must be Don Quixote...' added Sergi, his cheeks flushed with
excitement.

By then dad had already started moving in the direction the boys
said they had seen the diver.

Five minutes later he was back, picking up the picnic basket and the
shoes lying around.

'Quick, everyone, get into the car. Now!' His voice sounded
worried.

They drove off and when Jordi thought they were far enough from
harm's way he pulled over, called the police station, and asked to
speak to the chief.

'Yes, it's urgent. I spoke to him earlier today. It's related to
the jewel thieves.'

n

Later that afternoon the police chief himself called to
give them the news. They had caught the second accomplice. He had
been trying to open the boot of the car to get hold of the diamonds
and gold they had stolen.

'The only problem now is that we have to wait until
tomorrow for the police crane to arrive. Only then will we be able
to retrieve the car along with the valuables,' said the police chief.

'I have a crane. You can actually see it from the
river. I can pull the car out of the water for you if you want,'
offered Dad.

'That would be great. When can you come?'

'I'll
be there in twenty minutes.' Dad said before he hung up. 'Nerea,
kids, we're going back to the river.' Jordi knew he could not leave
them behind. After all, they
had solved the mystery of the stolen jewels.

n

Two police divers had already put a giant chain through
the windows of the submerged car and were hooking it onto the long
crane beam. Now it was Jordi's turn to slowly control the lever and
cables, and lift the car gently out of the water.

Gerard could not be prouder of his father at that
moment. Neither could Sergi.

As soon as the car touched the ground and the chain was
removed, the chief of police moved towards the car and forced the
boot open. Inside there was a big black metal steamer trunk with two
huge padlocks, one on each side.

A police officer approached with a huge bolt cutter and
snapped the padlocks in half and the two boys were ecstatic when they
saw the shiny gems and all the gold inside the trunk. In the end,
they had found their pirates' treasure.

The police officers laughed when the boys started jumping up and down, clapping and hugging each other in sheer
happiness and with a look of disbelief on their young faces. This
would certainly be a day to remember.

And
was there a reward? Of course there was: a university trust fund of
two thousand euros was set up for each of the four children, and to
their utter delight that was not all of it. The jewellers got
together and offered the two families a one-week, all expenses paid
holiday in Disney World, Orlando, USA! Jordi and Nerea's family
holiday plan had become a reality sooner than expected; they could
not have been given a better prize. This
was possibly the beginning of a new family path, a new family
adventure.

- COPYRIGHT/Registado no IGAC

If you enjoyed reading this story please clickg+1and/or leave a comment.

Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment this story, +Victoria Addis. I've visited your blog on several occasions and find you provide a critical and intelligent approach to literature. Congrats! https://ahermitsprogress.wordpress.com/

About me:

Born in Mozambique, she grew up in South Africa and has travelled widely, both as a student and a teacher of English as a Foreign Language.
Nasceu em Moçambique, cresceu na África do Sul e tem viajado extensamente, tanto como estudante como professora de Inglês como língua estrangeira.